8th Pay Commission Major Update: Assam First To Form State-Level Panel For Salary Revision

Assam is set to be the first state to form the 8th State Pay Commission for the revision of salaries and pensions of state government employees and retirees, respectively, according to an announcement by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday.

"This marks a significant step towards employee welfare and progressive governance," Sarma said. So far, no other state government has constituted the 8th Pay Commission, he pointed out.

The chief minister's announcement comes ahead of the assembly elections in Assam, expected around April-May this year.

Meanwhile, the 8th Central Pay Commission was formally constituted on Nov. 3, 2025, under the chairmanship of Justice (retired) Ranjana Desai. The panel, over the next several months, will hold deliberations with various stakeholders before formulating its report on the fitment factor and other modalities for wage and pension revision.

The commission has been given an 18-month deadline, lapsing in May 2027, to submit its report to the Centre. The same will be scrutinised by the government, before being issued the final nod.

As per the precedent, once the central pay commission recommendations are accepted, the same are replicated by state-level panels.

Notably, pay commissions are formed once in a decade to revise the salaries and wages of government employees and retirees. Since the 7th Pay Commission came into effect from January 2016, it was expected that the 8th Pay Commission would be rolled out from January 2026.

While the process has been delayed, employee unions are firm that the government should implement the 8th Pay Commission's recommendations retrospectively.

The retrospective rollout was also indicated by the Centre in an official release issued on Oct. 28. "Usually, the recommendations of the pay commissions are implemented after a gap of every ten years. Going by this trend, the effect of the 8th Central Pay Commission recommendations would normally be expected from 01.01.2026," it had stated in official note issued following the Cabinet meeting.